Alice Y. Kaplan

Professor of French. Reworked the articulation between literary and historical knowledge. Specialist in fascism, the Nazi occupation of France, and post-war French culture. Author of Reproductions of Banality (1986); French Lessons (1993); The Collaborator (2000); and The Interpreter (2005). 

Her first book, Reproductions of Banality was a theoretical exploration of French fascism. Since then she has published books on Céline’s anti-semitic pamphlets (Sources et citations dans ‘Bagatelles pour un massacre’), on the treason trial of Robert Brasillach (The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach), and on American courts-martial in newly liberated France (The Interpreter). The Interpreter was the recipient of the 2005 Henry Adams Prize from the Society for History in the Federal Government; The Collaborator was awarded the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Award in History and was a finalist for the National Book Award and National Book Critic’s Circle awards. She is probably best known for her 1993 memoir, French Lessons, which was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award in biography/autobiography. Her literary translations include books by Roger Grenier (Piano Music for Four Hands, Another November, and The Difficulty of Being a Dog), Louis Guilloux (OK, Joe), and Evelyne Bloch-Dano (Madame Proust). Her book, Dreaming in French, is about the formative year that three ambitious American women - Jacquel